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Rangers' Henrik Lundqvist out at least a month with neck injury

New York Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist will be out at least a month after taking a puck to the throat on Jan. 31 against the Carolina Hurricanes. Lundqvist played Monday against Florida, but was listed as day-to-day for New York’s Wednesday game against Boston.

Almost a week after taking a puck to the throat, the New York Rangers have announced that starting goaltender Henrik Lundqvist will be sidelined for at least a month.

The injury, which was sustained in a Jan. 31 contest against the Carolina Hurricanes, sidelined Lundqvist for Wednesday night’s game against the Bruins. Following the game, Lundqvist tweeted a picture of the incident and joking that at least he had stopped the puck and that he would, “probably stick to soup,” after taking the puck in the throat.

What makes the situation odd is that the 32-year-old goaltender suited up for the Ranger’s Monday game against the Florida Panthers, picking up a 6-3 victory in the outing, even purposely stopping a puck with his mask at one point late in the game.

It wasn’t until Tuesday that the team was informed of Lundqvist suffering any ill effects. When the team assembled for practice the day following their victory over the Panthers, the netminder did not take part, instead taking what was called a “maintenance” day.

Following practice, coach Alain Vigneault said that Lundqvist would be starting on Wednesday. Then, on Wednesday afternoon, Lundqvist was listed as day-to-day which came as a surprise. That’s why the Rangers being without their star goaltender for at least a month comes as a shock, as it seemed heading into Wednesday that he wouldn’t miss a day.

If Lundqvist misses exactly 30 days, he would miss 15 games, returning in time for the Rangers March 8 contest with the Chicago Blackhawks. However, of those 15 games, only one is against a divisional opponent, which is a Feb. 16 tilt with the New York Islanders. If there was a good stretch of games for Lundqvist to miss, they may very well be it.